Photo: St. John’s IceCaps forward and Montreal Canadiens prospect Mike McCarron competed for the North Division squad at the 2016 AHL All-Star Classic, where he picked up a goal and an assist (courtesy of Scott Thomas Photography/AHL)

It is hard not to notice Mike McCarron when he is on the ice during a St. John’s IceCaps game. The 6-foot-6, 231-pound forward simply towers over much of his competition at the AHL level. It is not often to see a player with his size have the hands and abilities with the puck that he possesses, and it is that rare combination of size and skill that led the Montreal Canadiens to draft McCarron with their first round pick (25th overall) in 2013. Read more»

In this week’s Prospect Faceoff, two OHL players who were traded for each other go one-on-one against their old teams for the first time . We’ll check in with Daniel Sprong and Mikko Rantanen, who both enjoyed valuable time in the NHL this year. The “Battle of Pennsylvania” gets a glimpse of the future when prospects of the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins go head-to-head, and two of the WHL’s finest defenders are heading in different directions.

Photo: 2016 NHL Draft prospect Alexander Nylander of the Mississauga Steelheads and Olli Juolevi of the London Knights go head-to-head in an OHL match this weekend after both turning in impressive performances at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship (courtesy of Aaron Bell/OHL Images and Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

Prospect Faceoff returns in 2016 with a huge home-and-home series in Boston, as two of NCAA hockey’s best programs play a pair of games this weekend. With the World Junior Championship now complete, a number of high-end players return to their regular lineups and are ready for a big second half. Among them, two high-end 2016 draft-eligible skaters go head-to-head, a blue-chip Philadelphia Flyers prospect returns to the WHL, and one of Switzerland’s finest has a new home in the QMJHL. Plenty more this week as Prospect Faceoff ramps up again! Read more»

Photo: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is the vanguard of a solid group of defensive prospects that will be joining the Flyers in the coming seasons (courtesy of Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire)

With top scorers like Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn in hand, the Dallas Stars are not lacking for high-end talent at the NHL level. The story in their prospect pipeline is slightly different, however, as the Stars’ system ends up dropping a couple places in the latest edition of the Hockey’s Future NHL Team Rankings. Read more»